Stefani allowed to practice law in federal court

Jun. 21, 2013

Attorney Michael Stefani, who lost his law license for 30 days over his handling of the text message scandal that landed former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is jail, can practice law in Detroit federal court again. / Regina H. Boone/Detroit Free Press

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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Attorney Michael Stefani, who lost his law license for 30 days over his handling of the text message scandal that landed former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is jail, can practice law in Detroit federal court again.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn on Friday granted Stefani’s request that he be reinstated to practice in the Eastern District of Michigan. Stefani, whose license was suspended in 2012, had previously been cleared to practice in the state courts by the state Attorney Discipline Board.

But to practice in the federal court system, Stefani had to persuade a panel of three federal judges that he was morally fit, competent in the law, and that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt the integrity of the legal profession and the courts.

Cohn concluded that Stefani did that.

Stefani represented two former Detroit police officers in a 2007 whistle-blower trial during which Kilpatrick and his former lover and chief of staff, Christine Beatty, denied having an affair. Their testimony was was contradicted by text messages published by the Free Press, triggering criminal charges and Kilpatrick’s eventual downfall.

In 2010, the state Attorney Discipline Board found Stefani guilty of professional misconduct for his handling of text messages. Stefani admitted that he had the texts sent to him from a communications company, rather than sending them to the court like he was supposed to.